The iCASS (Immersive Close Air Support Simulator) will boost the training of UK MoD forward air controllers

iCASS is a high-fidelity, immersive training environment

The system provides value-for-money training support to bolster instruction with live air assets

Finmeccanica - Selex ES and partner Close Air Solutions have announced the acceptance of the iCASS system by the Joint Forward Air Control Training and Standardisation Unit (JFACTSU) of the UK Ministry of Defence. The contract to supply the system was awarded in November 2014.

The Immersive Close Air Support Simulator (iCASS) system is a Forward Air Control (FAC) simulator and training system. It has been developed to provide forward air controllers with a high-fidelity, immersive training environment with full after-action review (AAR) capability. At the core of this iCASS system is computer generated/semi-automated forces and threat generation with powerful 3D virtual simulation provided by MetaVR and Battlespace Simulations.

“Synthetic systems offer excellent value for money support to scarce live air assets for delivering Forward Air Controller (FAC) training both now and particularly in the future.” said Group Captain Mark Gorringe, Chief of Staff, Joint Air Land Organisation HQ Air Command, adding “Synthetic systems are acknowledged as offering better FAC training than live aircraft in some scenarios, and equally as effective in many other instances. The new synthetic systems will complement JFACTSU’s existing training and utilise the latest advances in technology to ensure that JFACTSU continues to provide training of the highest order.”

Mike Squires, Business Director, Close Air Solutions said “We are extremely proud to have delivered the iCASS system to our former colleagues at JFACTSU, they now have a capability that we could only dream about as serving JTAC instructors”.

The iCASS system meets DIS/SISO standards, interoperability being a key future requirement; iCASS can interoperate with any DIS-based system using DIS protocols. The system is available to support high-quality and high-tempo FAC/JTAC training anywhere in the world through simulator sales or complete end-to-end training school service provision.

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